Frustration over flooded A21 rat-run after bus crash

Residents are frustrated by the poor condition of a rat-run off the A21 which regularly floods and gets icy in cold weather after a bus crash.

One of Claverham Community College’s buses got stuck on Blueman’s Lane on the school run on Friday morning (January 20) – no one was hurt.

The lane between Westfield and Sedlescombe has been flooded due to a blocked culvert in the nearby stream, and a combination of last week’s heavy rainfall and cold snap made it treacherous for motorists.

The culvert is due to be cleared on Friday (January 27), but residents believe it is not being properly maintained as the issue has been going on for years.

“The road isn’t being maintained by the highways people,” a person who lives on Blueman’s Lane, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

“There’s a bridge in the road which goes over a stream and it is always flooded for the last few years as no one is maintaining it.

“No one is taking ownership of the problem. Highways promised to fix it but its permanently flooded and icy. It’s just frustrating because if they had dealt with it when it was first a problem, it wouldn’t be so bad now.”

The resident said many motorists use the lane when the A21 gets busy during rush hour, but many do not know about the flooding which sometimes comes up past the cars sills.

On Friday it was like a ‘sheet of ice’ and the bus reportedly lost control and went into a ditch, before reversing back off the road and getting stuck.

Claverham’s PA to the principal Sylvie Pry said: “We are aware of the incident and are in liaison with the local authority transport service with regard to it.

“We are able to report that no-one was injured.”

A Rother District Council spokesman said it is aware of the blocked culvert causing water from the stream to flow onto Blueman’s Lane and it should be fixed today.